Participatory Budgeting
Participatory Budgeting is a democratic process in which a community decides how to spend a portion of their government’s budget. The City of Tacoma has set aside $1,000,000 for your district.
Due to budget constraints, the Participatory Budgeting process will be delayed to a future date, meaning that no new Council District processes will start in 2024/2025.
How to Get Involved?
Interested in learning more about Participatory Budgeting, or even joining the Community Leadership Team? Reach out to our team!
District 2 Participatory Budgeting Project (2023-2024)
$1 Million Project Announcement for a Covered Skate Park in Downtown
Over 2,000 ideas were submitted by you and your neighbors in Tacoma’s Council District 2 (Downtown, Dome District, Stadium District, Northeast Tacoma, and North Tacoma). The three most popular ideas were turned into proposals for this ballot. Voting closed on September 20, 2024, and the winner was announced on October 12 at the Festival Herencia Latina at the Tacoma Armory.
Over 6,000 Participatory Budgeting votes were tallied from community members in District 2. The community-proposed project that has been selected will design and build a covered skate park featuring public art in Downtown Tacoma, in a location under I-705. The proposed project is an exciting community initiative aimed at creating a vibrant space for both skateboarding and public art. Implementation is projected to begin in 2025.
Other community-proposed projects in District 2 had included:
- Upgrade accommodations at the City of Tacoma’s emergency shelter stability site on Puyallup Avenue with two shower/bathroom units, added access to electricity, ADA accessibility, and more.
- Fund youth programming for the new dedicated teen area, the community hub, and the Makerspace at Tacoma Public Library’s Main location.
Implementing community-chosen projects in Council Districts 4 and 2 will continue through the fall of 2024.
Closing the General Fund’s gap in the 2025-2026 Proposed Budget means difficult tradeoffs and reductions. The proposed budget begins to address the structural gap by pausing the remaining three Participatory Budgeting projects so that funding can be used to help balance the budget. As future budget processes come forward, the City Council can decide when the appropriate time to restart Participatory Budgeting processes. As future budget processes come forward, the City will assess the appropriate time to restart Participatory Budgeting processes.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Participatory Budgeting (PB) is a democratic process where:
- Community leaders develop a scoped process with the City to help their fellow community members develop ideas.
- Community leaders turn ideas into proposals.
- Community members vote to select one or more of those proposals.
- The City will fund and implement the proposal(s) voted on.
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The City Council initially approved $5 million in funds for Participatory Budgeting in Tacoma. Each district was to receive $1 million for its Participatory Budgeting project.
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The first effort was launched in District 4 in September 2022. In the summer of 2023, 12,389 community members voted to fund youth and cultural programming.